For the first time in a long time, I feel like I am able to sit down and write about all of the things that have been happening with the music in my life. The last year has been a rollercoaster, and I feel as if I am entering into a new stage of my career as a music producer.

Afer working on Absinthe Films' /fter Forever, I found myself working with many artists, in many genres of music and film, on many projects.

In the autumn of 2016 CocoRosie came to the studio, to spend some time sifting through some ideas they had, for their composition commision from director Robert Wilson (who had, himself, been commissioned to direct Edda), and we pieced some of them together to turn the elements of an instrumental piece into a fully structured part of the soundtrack. I added some Hammered Dulcimer to the song, as well as some synthetic bass elements. The piece, "Dark Fairy," found its way into the show. Estonian composer Arvo Pärt's music was also featured in the theatre production.

Around the same time, one member of Nevada County's finest progressive band, Pinnacles, contacted me about his debut solo album. In January of this year I worked with him to re-record and rearrange some parts, as well as mix the whole album. I don't want to talk too much about the project, as its release schedule is still in the planning stages, but I am very, very excited about the album.

GoPro showed interest in using music by my other project, Neso Verses, for a film about Mike Basich's transition from being a professional competitive snowboarder, to a professional lifestyle snowboarder. Tina Basich (the other half of Neso Verses) and I ended up writing something completely new for the project, and you can hear it around 2.56 in the video below:

Around the same time as the GoPro project, Mike Basich asked if he could use some of my music for his short film, documenting the construction of his second tiny home. I love working with Mike, so of course I said yes - and then I ended up doing the overall audio mix for the film. It was such a fun project!

Friend, fellow artist, and long-time collaborator EchoWants Her VoiceBack and I worked trans-atlantically to create two single/video releases - "Laisse Moi" and "Quicksand." It was an unusual experience, seeing as I normally travel extensively, in order to get international productions done. I am really happy with how both of them came out, and I always enjoy when I get to play piano for a project.

For the first time I am also working with an artist at the artist-development stage. I am really excited to be able to talk more about this project in the future, but for now I can confirm that the project is taking me out of my comfort zone, and that is my favourite place to be!

And finally, on top of all of this, I am in the middle of constructing a brand new studio - the new home for Ishikawa Media.. More on that later.